A whopping 99% of companies in Ireland fall into the SME sector, employ about 2/3rds of our workforce and account for almost 50% of turnover for businesses in Ireland. Inevitably, this pattern will continue with the constant flow of rapidly growing start-ups and SMEs, at the head of a strong readily available funding landscape globally. With the evolution of the digital economy and remote workforces, companies within all sectors have found themselves rethinking how they do business.
Whether it is initial entry into Ireland, expansion abroad or merger/acquisition deals, experience shows that the commercial decisions move first, with the regulatory and compliance obligations often bringing up the rear! Daily we see start-ups and expanding SMEs incurring unnecessary VAT costs, inefficient VAT cash flows and burdensome tax authority interactions avoidable with a little more upfront, flexible and monitored VAT governance and strategic planning.
While the VAT issues faced are often sector specific and continue to change as business models and VAT laws progress, we set out below our own one-stop-shop of VAT considerations for start ups – a general road-map for doing it right from the start!
Source Deloitte
